McXal's Reviews

We're a few weeks removed from the 15th Anniversary, but in the final episode of the 'Steel City Excellence' tapings, so the televised product hasn't quite caught up yet. This broadcast will feature the final first round match in the 2017 Top Prospect Tournament, and the much anticipated rematch between Jay Briscoe and Jay White. We also getting Kenny King vs Lio Rush in a grudge match based on what went down in The Rebellion's Six-Man Tag Title shot a couple of weeks ago. Ian Riccaboni hosts the episode in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Despite being one of the better performers for ROH in 2016, Silas is now right back in the middle of the pack where he started. He and Bruiser want to challenge for the Six-Man Tag Titles at Supercard Of Honor in a couple of weeks, but are still recruiting for their third partner. In the mean-time they need to practice against ROH's dojo bros in Burger and Ferrara. If they want title shots they can't afford to lose here.

Beer City squashes Cheeseburger at the opening bell and almost puts him through the canvas with an emphatic spinebuster. Young spearheads decking Will right alongside him. Burger blocks Misery, only to be booted into a wheelbarrow suplex from BCB for 2. Backbreaker/Samoan Drop combo by Bruiser and Silas (lets call that Killer Combo 2.0) gets a nearfall...but Cheese still has enough left in the tank to dodge a Bruiser cannonball in the corner and make the tag to Ferrara. He hits Paydirt on Silas for 2. ROLLING CANNONBALL OFF THE APRON MISSES for Bruiser! Shotei on Young gets 2 before the recovered BCB lunges in to save. 'Beer City Slam' destroys Burger! Ace Crusher/Keg Splash combo polishes off Ferrara at 05:43

Rating - ** - Young and Bruiser are a really decent tag team. I should remember that as I'm panning every entrant in the Top Prospect Tournament field this year, because I did the same for Bruiser when he came in. He still isn't my favourite member of the ROH roster and I don't enjoy watching him in singles matches at all, but his team with Young has real chemistry. They had to bump and sell for Ferrara and Cheeseburger far more than I'd have liked, but still came off as sufficiently dominant by the end - which was really all I wanted from the match.

LeRusso is another bog standard independent talent, who has been appearing in enhancement spots for ROH for a couple of years already. He has now paid sufficient dues to get entry into this tournament and as someone in his early 30's, is certainly more relevant to a 'top prospect' tournament than someone like Preston Quinn last week. His opponent is an interesting one, making his main show and TV debut (having only worked a single dark match previously). Josh 'The Goods' Woods was an accomplished amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist, but signed a WWE developmental deal to enter NXT in 2015 - staying until the summer of 2016. As I said during the debacle involving Bull James in ROH (as an aside, I found that such a loathsome incident I'd wiped it out of my mind and genuinely had to Google what Bull James' name was because I'd forgotten), I don't object to ROH giving shots to NXT cast-offs at all. This is a young kid with an impressive athletic resume - and the definition of what you'd call a 'prospect'. 

LeRusso still looks like Baby Miz, and presumably has a lot of friends and family in because he gets a massive pop despite working a heelish 'heir apparent' gimmick. Ian and Bob Evans put Woods over as 'dangerous'...and he tries to prove it by going for an instant cross armbreaker on LeRusso. Silas Young joins commentary and admits that he is scouting Woods to be he and Bruiser's new partner. The Goods applies a kneebar and has LeRusso screaming and grabbing the ropes. Chris tries to use his experience in pro wrestling to manipulate the rules and body positioning to work his way back into the match. Woods hits an assortment of suplexes - throwing his opponent around with ease. Pumphandle DVD from LeRusso gets 2...but The Goods smiles and gestures for more. He hits a devastating knock-out kick...then mounts LeRusso and rains strikes down on him until Todd Sinclair stops the match. Woods advances in the tournament at 05:30

Rating - * - Both men showed flashes of potential and ability here, but were exposed in a match which probably went a little long and lacked a little direction. On commentary Woods was promoted as talented but inexperienced, and that showed here as he struggled to strike a balance between working a match and helping his opponent get over...whilst also promoting himself as a skilled 'real athlete'. The finish was good, and with a vocal crowd cheering on LeRusso it had the best atmosphere of any of the TPT matches...but it should've lost a few minutes and taken the form of more of a straightforward squash. Remember when Gabe brought in Daniel Puder for a few shows back in the day, but had to cut him because he was ludicrously expensive for an MMA fighter with minimal pro-wrestling experience? This felt like the sort of match Puder would've been having if he'd stuck around...

This is a match which could conceivably main event an episode of television, and now has a legitimate grudge fuelling it as well. That makes it a real shame they will be pressed for time and hidden away in a nothing match like this. The Rebellion have been recruiting Lio Rush for sometime, mysteriously leaving him alone whilst attacking the rest of his Search & Destroy allies like Shelley, Sabin or Jay White. It seemed like it had paid off two weeks ago when The Rebellion challenged The Kingdom for the Six-Man Titles and Lio charged in to replace the injured Rhett Titus. Except it was a trap and he immediately double-crossed them, costing them the belts. King wants swift payback tonight...

'He's not afraid to evolve' - Ian Riccaboni unknowingly predicting Lio's future career path as his ROH run winds down. He also calls him 'wise beyond his years', which some of his actions since joining WWE would probably contradict as well. He and King start with some tense and evenly-matched chain-wrestling before Kenny uses his power and heavy handed striking to pin Lio down. Rush increases the pace to the point that King can't lay a finger on him though. Kenny falls out of the ring...only to leap from the floor and clock Lio with a jumping enzi strike when he lines up a tope. Capo kick knocks Lio off the apron...but Kenny MISSES a corkscrew pescado and is wiped out with ROLLING LOPES! Royal Flush COUNTERED into a reverse rana! DRAGON'S CALL! King gets a shoulder up! Royal Flush gives Kenny the win at 05:47 (shown)

Rating - *** - As I said, it was a shame these guys were stuck in a random filler TV match and not given real time to do anything special...but for the time they got this was fine. It was fast, competitive, had a number of exciting exchanges and a false finish that I legitimately bit on (King's kickout of Dragon's Call). Under normal circumstances I'd criticise Rush not going over, but having worked his TV Title angle with Marty Scurll he is winding down before leaving in just over a month's time. He isn't even booked for Supercard Of Honor weekend (having stolen the show in Dallas last year)...

King and Caprice Coleman make like they are going to attack Lio...until Shane Taylor comes down the aisle apparently to stop them. It's a swerve, and he decks Rush with a chokebomb. Taylor is the newest member of The Rebellion.

White has less generic entrance music, and comes out wearing a black leather jacket so immediately resembles the 'Switchblade' White gimmick we'd see when he returned to New Japan. He remains undefeated in ROH, but perhaps his most significant singles match in the company so far was a match he failed to win. Last year, on Episode 257 he took former World Champion Jay Briscoe to a time limit draw. It was a fiercely fought contest, and the lack of a result to it has clearly irked both men. Briscoe wants to win to assert dominance over the newcomer and validate his claims that his undefeated streak of a couple of years ago was vastly superior to White's. The New Zealander wants a definitive victory over Briscoe to legitimise his ROH legacy and propel him into championship contention.

Briscoe refuses to shake hands, provoking White to attack him before the bell. He forcefully evicts the former World Champ from the ring...then coils to unload a German suplex the second he tries to re-enter. Briscoe snaps off a hurricanrana, puts a boot through White's head, and almost bursts through the guardrails with a tope suicida! The Kiwi is left on the ground with the crumpled wreckage of one of the metal ROH banners alongside him. Having made a statement on the floor Briscoe now looks to slow the pace right down. Repeated emphatic strikes keep the NJPW Young Lion on the ground and unable to build any momentum. The neck is taking plenty of punishment as well which is obviously a plan as it sets him up for the Jay Driller. Even when White tries to mount a comeback Briscoe is quick to attack the neck and down him again with a DDT. White desperately needs to escape - and as soon as he does he sprints and blasts Briscoe with elbows and uppercuts. Missile dropkick scores and sets up the Urinage for 2. Kiwi Crossface! Briscoe tries to grab a rope...so White converts it to the Rings Of Saturn instead! It leaves Briscoe crawling to the corner with a vacant look on his face - with White in hot pursuit peppering him with blows even as the ref tries to intervene. Day One Neckbreaker hammers White's neck some more. Jay Driller blocked into a German suplex! TURNBUCKLE SNAP SUPLEX for 2! White thinks about another missile dropkick...so Briscoe SHOVES HIM OFF THE TOP THROUGH THE TIMEKEEPING TABLE! Mark Briscoe is on commentary and calls his brother a 'wildman who hasn't been the same' since failing to get the Tag Titles from the Bucks. Still the New Zealander fights the Jay Driller. HALF NELSON SUPLEX! NO SOLD! MAFIA KICK! NO SOLD! White refuses to go down! Snap DVD on his bad neck...gets the one count of disrespect! BRISCOE SPITS IN HIS FACE! RUNNING LARIAT! White's streak is over, and Briscoe wins at 14:02 (shown)

Rating - **** - This was an absolutely great TV main event, and a step up from their time limit draw match in 2016. They worked hard and told a consistent story throughout - White being faster and more explosive but Briscoe being a dominant brawler who wanted to f*ck up White's neck - but for me the real draw of this match was Jay Briscoe's gradual descent into an uncontrollable burning rage. Coming in he had chastised White for only having beaten 'top prospects' on his undefeated streak and didn't seem to view the Kiwi as on his level. But already pissed off at failing to win the Tag Titles, his fuse grew shorter and eventually ignited by throwing his opponent through a table. Mark did a strong job putting it over on commentary too. Any match which is good in a standalone context but also does a great job progressively telling a story for the combatants moving forward works just fine for me. It was so well done that I didn't even mind that they used the end of White's undefeated streak to promote it. Should that undefeated streak have been paid off more notably - absolutely. But, White remains a New Japan talent. He has been built up well in ROH, but takes a defeat to put over and further the character development of a core, contracted ROH roster member. I have no problem with that aspect, and is a rare example of the NJPW relationship actually benefiting Ring Of Honor.

Tape Rating - *** - The first half of this episode was pretty underwhelming but King/Rush, the reveal of Shane Taylor as the newest Rebel and the outstanding main event made sure the second half was extremely good. Briscoe/White is as good as anything ROH have put on TV through all of the first quarter of 2017...

5) The Kingdom vs The Rebellion (*** - Episode 285)

4) BJ Whitmer/Punishment Martinez vs War Machine (*** - Episode 286)

3) Adam Cole/Cody/Young Bucks vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe/Jay Lethal/Bobby Fish (**** - Episode 285)

2) Marty Scurll vs Donovan Dijak (**** - Episode 284)

1) Jay Briscoe vs Jay White (**** - Episode 287)